Will the 'Questions' feature in Facebook be a great marketing tool in future?

Most of us use Facebook to remain connected with our social networks or friends. But now it's not an unknown fact that Facebook is an important communications tool, one that helps immensely in the marketing and promotion of a brand. To maintain its success and people's interests in it, Facebook regularly tries to modify itself by adding new applications.

Facebook has recently added "Questions" to its list of features. According to industry experts like Matt Rhodes, this feature has an enormous potential to be a valuable market research and engagement tool because:

• The interface is nicer than the Facebook Polls application.
• You can pay for Facebook advertising for your Questions (via the URL), which could provide a significant, targeted response for market research efforts.
• It's easy to share the questions with your friends and follow the question to keep a track of written responses.

Now, Facebook Questions are no survey-smashers at the moment, but with improvement can be among the best online-marketing tools. It just needs to find the balance between the depth needed for market research, the targeting options it has for brand page posts, privacy and the sharing options it currently features.

Now Google lets us "like" the pages on web

Following the success of Facebook's "like" button, now Google has launched its new “+1″ button that will appear next to every website that is displayed in it’s search results pages.

Facebook “like” buttons have been extremely popular for over a year now and have been a great way to to measure a brand's success. They have displayed social proof to viewers by revealing the level of “attention quantification” of a company’s Facebook page… as an example if 50,000 people are displayed as liking a brand's Facebook page, that shows the viewer that this company is popular and may be worth checking out further.

The like button has also provided the means for the company’s latest Facebook updates to potentially appear in the news updates of all people who have ‘liked’ the page. If a company posts an update to its Facebook page then potentially 50,000 people can receive the company’s latest news in their personal Facebook profile. So by posting your latest Blog post to your Facebook ‘page’ allows your content to spread and to be amplified across the web.

Now let's just figure out how the "+1" button works. When you search something on Google, a ‘+1′ button will appear next to the each and every search result. You can effectively ‘like’ the individual search result(s) by clicking on the +1 button. In this way, your searches will become a sort of public data where everyone will be able to follow how many users around the globe like or appreciate some particular search or link. But before you rush to try your hands on it, just keep in mind that it is not available to everyone at this point. Right now it is only available to random US based users. One also needs to have a Google profile. Also, to see the the +1′s in your search results you will need to be logged into your Google account.

Though we are not sure of its effectiveness at present, but it does appear to be a cool application from Google that is expected to enhance the social web further.

References: Jeffbullas.com

Elements of online public relations that are going to help me in my future career

This eight-month long program in Corporate Communications and Public Relations at Centennial College has been an extremely enriching experience for me. I had a chance to learn many new things that I did not know before.

A course on Online Public Relations is something that I have enjoyed the most in the entire program. I was inclined towards learning more about online PR as I have always wanted to establish myself not only as a good writer but also as a specialist in online communications and web content writing. But I came across many elements of online PR that I was not aware of while starting the course.

If I have to choose the most important thing that I have learnt in online PR that will be applicable in my future career, honestly I won’t be able to select just one. I used to blog earlier and knew what a blog was. But I learnt how blogs can be used as a PR tool through this course. This was something new and exciting. I saw how important blogs are in today’s business world and what a difference they can create in building and maintaining an organisation’s image.

The next best thing was working on creating a podcast. I never really imagined that a podcast can be such a powerful tool in corporate communications. In a team, we got an opportunity to do our own podcast – choose a topic related to PR, interview someone, record sound pieces and then edit them.

I also learnt a great deal about Search Engine Optimization and believe this is something that is going to help me in the long run. As I want to be a web content writer, this will help me understand my content better, choose the key words and direct them in such a way that they appear in maximum searches. There is a thin line between a hard worker and a smart worker. I believe my knowledge of SEOs and its applications will help me to be a smart worker in my future jobs.

This course also introduced me to social bookmarking and tagging. And I have learnt how to use these small but vital tools effectively.

Last but not the least, the knowledge of social media that I have gained through this course is surely going to be an asset in my career. I had been social media savvy for a long time but I never knew how important it is to have a social profile to rise in this industry. I never really liked Twitter and did not bother using it much before I joined this course. Today I am quite active in Twitter and have more than 200 followers myself. Now that I have got it started, I plan to work constantly towards building my online brand through Twitter and other social media platforms.

Overall, it has been a great learning experience, one which I have enjoyed personally.

The beautiful Andamans...

I had a chance of exploring the beautiful Andaman Islands in early 2010. It was a family trip and we spent six days and five nights in the wilderness and waters of The Andamans.

From blue-green waters to mangroves, from limestone caves to the mysterious Jarwa tribes, The Andamans is a small paradise surrounded by the Indian Ocean. It is an unexplored beauty which has not yet revealed all its secrets.

This picture was taken near the jetty while waiting for the cruise to the Havelock Island, a small island in the Andaman family...The travel comprised of being two hours on the deck on a high tide day with loud angry sea winds roaring, plus a sudden downpour that only ended up being the icing on the cake :)

Death can't take hope away...

I was sitting on the cold shore combining the sand around me, looking for shells. Dusk was falling. It was windy and the mist coming off the waves felt cold against my body. I looked at the ambitious waves, rising from the restless water underneath, and reaching altitudes to engulf whatever comes in its way. A small boat was struggling to move through the angry waters for a long time. The sight forced me to nurse a hope that the boat would make its way safely from the clutches of waves. A gloomy picture of fear and helplessness flashed in my mind. It made me recall something that was long forgotten.

I was in grade 10 then. It was the first day after the summer vacations. Everyone in the class was buzzing with excitement to meet each other after two whole months of boredom and prolonged naps. I noticed a boy missing from our class of 50. Initially, I thought it was the usual case of being absent.

Days rolled by but he never returned. Then one day our class teacher announced that the boy was suffering from abdominal cancer and had been hospitalized.

The class stood aghast.

Memories started cluttering my mind and finally, formed the image of a handsome boy. His name was Robin. He was a quiet boy. He was not among my close friends but I admired him for his kind and gentle persona. He looked nice with his jet-black hair and chiseled features. I knew him as a person who always helped everyone in need with all he could. I remembered how I always used to tease him about a girl whom he had helped once. I realized that my eyes had become moist and hot tears were rolling down my cheeks. I looked around only to see faces similar to mine. I was feeling choked. I tried to scream but my vocal cords seemed to have been paralyzed.

We all made ‘Get Well Soon’ cards and handed them to the teacher who was going to visit him. I hoped the vibrant shades would bring some hues to his fading life.

Meanwhile, Robin kept on going for chemo treatments once every week. We all were happy to know that he was showing signs of recovery and had also started having fruits instead of the regular glucose and saline water. Our class teacher, who used to visit him frequently, would often say, “I have never seen a braver boy than Robin. He studies the notes I give him and says, “Ma’am I want to, and would surely sit for the boards this year with all my friends.””

One fine day, just before a month before our exams, ma’am told us that Robin’s kidneys had failed working and now he was on dialysis, along with the chemo treatment. This news brought an end to our fresh hopes of seeing him healthy and with us again. That day we all went to see him in the hospital.

I could not recognize him at first. The evil disease had stripped him of his beauty and had made him bald and weak. It was painful to see the fading flame in his clear black but dreamless eyes, his hollow smile agonized by the dread of death. We held our tears back with a tremendous effort and chatted with him. We cracked jokes and laughed, and saw him laughing. We played some verbal games and them bid him goodbye.

Later that month, we got occupied with the final revision of the whole course. In the meantime, Robin’s health kept on worsening. We heard that his family was also going through an acute financial crisis. Our teacher told us that his father, who used to be a strong man once, was getting frustrated day by day. He was constantly making efforts to make ends meet out of nowhere. I wished God would save the family from crumbling.

A couple of months passed and one day I heard the news of Robin’s death. I cried in despair for the loss of a good friend and a better person. But I also thanked God for relieving him from the terrible pain. Just a week after his death, I came to know that his father had died in a train accident. It was said that while traveling somewhere, he fell between 2 trains in motion. It seemed to me more as an act of suicide than an accident. Perhaps, the man had wanted to lose himself after losing his all, the last and undoubtedly the best being his son. After this, Robin’s mother went to live with her parents with her younger son.

This incident filled me with questions that troubled me for days. What had Robin done to deserve death? Why did his parents had to go through the incurable trauma of losing their child? Why is God so brute? I never found answers to these questions. But now I realize that the people, whom we love and care for, never die. They become immortal in our memories. I believe Robin is there, not in person but in presence. Death takes the physical life away but it can never erase the essence of living. Robin fought the battle of life and I feel he tasted triumph in his own way.

My thoughts got interrupted as cool, salty winds hit me. I looked at the small boat. It had fought to sail through the waves and was gliding along the sea that was now calm and defeated. I threw the shells that I had gathered, into the water, and started off for home.

Blog - from being a personal diary to a brand booster...

I was boggling my mind for some time thinking of things to write for my blog. And then came the idea of blogging on 'blogging' itself.

Blogging has been there for a while now. Something knows as 'Vlogging' or video blogging also appeared a few years ago. But I prefer sticking to my old, simple and ever effective blog.

Ever wondered what a useful medium a blog is? It can be as small as penning down your daily diary to writing and maintaining an all professional blog for a company. There are so many blogs on so many different topics. Fashion, food, technology, environment, politics, personal problems- just think of a word under the sun and you have many great blogs on each of them. There is something for everyone out there.

Let me tell you my story. I have always been a loner and for me blog has been a great friend. I don't fancy sharing my feelings with many people. I prefer a personal diary to jot down the happiest and the most painful moments of my life. Now why not go digital instead of scratching your pen on a paper diary. No worries of running out of pages. You can also attach all sorts of multimedia with your posts- images, videos, songs and much more, all that you could not even think of putting in a paper diary...And the best part, it's a lot of fun too.

Think of maintaining a company's corporate image and goodwill, and a blog is a great way to boost your brand. Plus it facilitates two way communications in the form of comments. This is very important from Corporate Communications perspective.

So all those people out there who don't have their own blogs yet, I would be happy if you feel motivated now to create your own personalized digital space.

Trust me, it is a great device. Happy blogging!!!

Blog revived!!!

Hi there...

I am back to blogging after over two years. Then it was solely a desire to write a digital diary. Now it is a part of my school assignment. Whatever it may be, it is as interesting as it was and I am happy to revive my blog all over again.

A very short brief on myself- I am a Journalism graduate and a Corporate Communications & Public Relations student. I like writing, watching movies, social media scanning and net surfing.

For the next two months, you can expect to see some posts on anything and everything of random interests and some related to Corporate Communications and Public Relations.

So that's about it at the moment....Have a happy reading and of course commenting!!!

:)